Vasques de Salomon 1870s

Editor: This albumen print, "Vasques de Salomon," was taken in the 1870s by Félix Bonfils. It reminds me of something out of an ancient history textbook, incredibly still and a little melancholy. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, yes, melancholy is a fine word for it. It’s like peering back through time, isn't it? Bonfils has captured the reservoirs of Solomon with such stark clarity. For me, the albumen print process itself speaks volumes – the way it renders detail, that sepia tone... It evokes a sense of distance, not just geographical, but temporal too. What strikes me most is how it marries the aesthetic of the time, Orientalism, with what appears to be a landscape, maybe a religious documentation? Editor: Orientalism? I guess I see that. It's the framing, maybe? Sort of romanticizing the ancient setting. Curator: Exactly. The composition elevates the landscape; it presents the Vasques de Salomon as something…other. It’s as if he's presenting an imagined idea, more than documenting its pure reality. The human element is diminished and absorbed into the hills, and structures, maybe to show the grandeur of the history of the area. Does it feel constructed, in some ways? Like a staged view? Editor: Yes, now that you mention it, there is an element of performance to it. As though he wants us to feel small in the face of time and history. I guess that's part of what gives it that melancholy feeling for me. Curator: Precisely. And that’s what makes it so compelling, this careful construction to convey feeling, to speak to something beyond the immediate scene. Editor: I will certainly remember this; now I see the scene not as simply historic documentation but also how the view itself is interpreted. Thank you. Curator: A pleasure! May this help inform all of your observations, not only for Bonfils' art, but the other views through artistic visions as well.